A tale of true love: Oasis

When I was in 7th grade my life changed forever. It was 1996. I was in the back seat of my parents car, both parents up front, dad was driving. My friend Holly was in the back seat with me and my sister was strapped into her car seat in between us. Dad was driving me and Holly to the mall in Tuscaloosa, AL so that we could hang out. It was about 7:00 on a Friday night and we were on McFarland Blvd. 

A song came on the radio. 

A song that instantly clicked with me. Champagne Supernova by Oasis. 

I made eye contact with my dad in the rear view mirror and I asked him, "where were you while we were getting high?" He narrowed his eyes at me and he said, "Waiting at home with a bat".

That moment, that song, altered everything about me from that moment on. Before that I only listened to the Oldies stations on the radio. I would get down to the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Herman's Hermits when my peers had no idea what it was I was listening to. Sure, when I was younger I fell into the New Kids on the Block trap that the music industry set for me, but honestly it was just through my classmates and in particular my next door neighbor that I even knew who they were. I had their sheets and their dolls and I thought Joey was dreamy, but I didn't listen to much of their music. 

I'm not really sure why I stated listening to Oldies. Maybe it was my Papa Higgie, he used to sing Chantilly Lace to me. To this day that song makes me tear up some everytime I hear it. Maybe Papa was the one that got me into the Oldies. My other grandparents never listened to any music really. My parents themselves were more Led Zeppelin and AC/DC than anything else. I digress. 

Anyways, once I heard Oasis it changed everything. I bought their CD that very night in the mall. (What's the Story?) Morning Glory is still one of my most loved, most listened to albums. I spent that entire summer laying on my grandparents bed with that cd in my Discman staring at the ceiling, falling into a kind of trance and just absorbing it all. 

Liam and Noel Gallagher are two of the most fascinating people I've ever studied. And I do mean studied. I read everything I could get my hands on about them (including their autobiography). It was harder then, before the internet was readily available and you had to ask music stores to specially order magazines for you and any piece of information that Kurt Loder told you, you were sure to soak in and file away. 

I didn't get to see Oasis live until my honeymoon in NYC in 2008. My amazing husband was awesome enough to let me pretty much plan our honeymoon around a band. He's so awesome he knew to never refer to them as merely just some "band" around me. It worked out really well. December 2008, Oasis in a sold out show at Madison Square Garden. It was amazing. They were so good. My husband even says it's one of the best shows  he's ever seen. They knew what the crowd wanted, they played the hits. 

I stood there next to my husband and I was truly overwhelmed. I had loved this band for so long. It was literally a dream come true, it was literally a check next to an item on my bucket list. I cried. Clearly. 

They broke up the next year. I like to think they kept it together for so long because somewhere deep inside they knew they had to for the sake of a girl they'd never met. 

You guys may have seen Beady Eye during the closing ceremonies for the Olympics. Beady Eye is Oasis but without Noel. It's not the same. I listen to very little of their stuff. Noel and Liam together was the soul of Oasis for me. Without them both it just doesn't work. Noel was always and will always be my favorite. He was the one that wrote the vast majority of songs (Liam's adventures into song writing, with the exception of Song Bird, makes me slightly embarrassed for him). Noel referred to Beady Eye as an Oasis tribute band. Goddamn I love Noel. He's always been my favorite of the brothers. Do I agree with his assessment of the band being a tribute band? No, but I do appreciate him saying it. Those Gallagher brothers must have a hard time finding pants to fit their giant balls. 

Anyways, I just wanted to say, when those crazy kids put aside their differences and get back together (do it for the money boys!) I'll be the first to fist pump. Until then, good luck with your individual projects guys, but I'm waiting for the real thing.